Presonus FireStudio Mobile FireWire Recording System

Model: FIRESTUDIO-MOBILE

About: Presonus FireStudio Mobile FireWire Recording System

Finally, a new-generation, studio-quality FireWire interface that you can use anywhere! The PreSonus FireStudio™ Mobile combines the superior analog-circuit design and advanced platform technology of our acclaimed FireStudio rack-mount interfaces with the ability to run on bus power in field applications. Now you can have enhanced audio performance for music recording and creation anywhere you can lug your laptop!

The Most Inputs of Any Mobile Interface
The FireStudio Mobile is a ten-input, six-output professional recording system that combines two PreSonus XMAX™ Class A microphone preamplifiers; six line-level, analog input channels; S/PDIF digital input and output; MIDI I/O; and headphone monitoring with separate gain control. The FireStudio Mobile beats any and all competition when it comes to flexibility and input count. You can record a whole band with the FireStudio Mobile.

The FireStudio Mobile is bundled with PreSonus Studio One Artist, our groundbreaking music creation program, and over 4 GB of virtual instruments, plug-ins, loops, and samples to get you started making music immediately.

True 48-Volt Phantom Power – Even When Powered By Your Laptop!
Here’s a dirty little secret: bus-powered mobile interfaces from other manufacturers deliver much less than the full 48 volts of phantom power that is specified by microphone manufacturers. This means even the finest condenser microphone can’t work at optimal internal gain levels, potentially compromising sound quality even before the signal gets to the mic preamp!

PreSonus president Jim Odom and his team of engineers went the extra mile and created an “internal switching power plant” that lets the FireStudio Mobile convert computer bus power into a full 48 volts of phantom power, as well delivering 30 volts to power the superb mic preamps you’ll read about next.

XMAX™ Class A Preamplifiers to Go
At PreSonus, we know that the mic preamplifier is a key component in the sonic quality of a recording. Many other companies that offer mobile recording interfaces add the cheapest possible microphone preamplifier as an afterthought. In contrast, the FireStudio Mobile includes custom-designed, high-voltage, discrete, XMAX Class A microphone preamplifiers that are suitable for use with all types of microphones.

The job of a microphone preamplifier in an audio interface is to boost a microphone-level signal to line level before conversion to the digital domain. A good preamp boosts the level to almost 400 times that of the original signal, making the preamp one of the most important stages in an interface. A cheap, off-the-shelf, op-amp-type mic preamp delivers thin, noisy, harsh results. But with XMAX preamps, the sonic quality is limited only by what microphone you plug into it.

XMAX preamplifiers are built with three key elements:

High Voltage. The XMAX preamplifier runs on power rails of 30V. Most off-the-shelf, op-amp-based designs run on power rails of 10V to 18V. Higher-voltage power rails deliver more headroom, deeper lows, smoother highs, and a richer overall sound.

Class A. Class A circuits have no crossover distortion and deliver purer, clearer, and more musical results than the Class AB designs that are found in many preamps.

The net result of the XMAX preamp design is high headroom, low noise, wide dynamic range, extended frequency response, and—most important—musicality and transparency, with smooth highs, solid deep lows, and everything in between.

On the Front
A pair of 3-LED level/clip indicators let you check the signal levels for channels 1 and 2, and a button enables 48V phantom power for the two mic channels. Also on the front panel are gain knobs for the two mic/instrument inputs and for the main stereo outputs and a stereo headphone output with gain knob. Gain for the mic inputs ranges from –10 dB to +70 dB; the high-impedance instrument inputs range from –30 dB to +50 dB of gain. Finally, a power/sync indicator LED shows whether the FireStudio Mobile is receiving adequate power and is correctly receiving word clock.

Ins and Outs
For a compact, portable unit, the FireStudio Mobile is loaded with I/O. We start with a pair of combination XLR/TS mic/instrument jacks, which are in the inputs for channels 1 and 2. The XLR mic inputs are routed to the aforementioned XMAX solid-state mic preamplifiers. The high-impedance, TS instrument inputs let you plug guitars or basses directly into the front panel.

On the back are 6 more balanced, ¼-inch line level inputs for channels 3 through 8, plus a DB9 connector that accepts a breakout cable (included) to provide stereo S/PDIF digital I/O and MIDI I/O. You get two FireWire 400 ports: one port connects to your computer, and the other can be used to connect a hard drive or to daisy-chain any FireStudio-family interface, including the StudioLive 16.4.2 digital mixer, allowing you to integrate the FireStudio Mobile into a larger system.

Synchronization to your computer is stable and robust, thanks to JetPLL™ synchronization technology. JetPLL incorporates noise shaping to virtually remove all audio-band jitter, ensuring near-perfect clock performance and optimal converter performance when networking two or more digital-audio devices. JetPLL quickly locks to any digital format through a wide range of frequencies and is extremely robust and tolerant of wide variations in clock frequencies. As a result, you’ll experience better stereo separation and clearer, more transparent audio.

Universal Control
Like all members of the PreSonus FireStudio family (including the StudioLive 16.4.2 mixer), the FireStudio Mobile comes bundled with Universal Control software. Universal Control is a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use control-panel application that allows you to daisy-chain to up to four FireStudio family devices for a maximum of up to 52 inputs and outputs (assuming your computer can handle that many tracks).

Universal Control consists of the Launch window and the Device window. In the Launch window, you can set the sample rate, clock source, safe mode, buffer size (PC only), and WDM routing (PC only) for all connected FireStudio Mobile-series interfaces. Each device is listed at the bottom of the window, along with Device Window buttons that open each interface’s Device window.

The Device window provides level and routing controls for each FireStudio-series interface’s internal mixer, enabling you to set up zero-latency cue mixes. Input and output metering have been optimized for ultra-fast screen display and minimum CPU usage, and you can give each interface a custom name. You can use any device in the chain as the master clock source, or you can slave the entire chain to an external digital device using any of the available digital inputs in the chain.

Studio One Artist—Plus Gigabytes of Creative Resources
The FireStudio Mobile is bundled with an exceptional software package, featuring PreSonus Studio One Artist, the amazing new DAW software for Mac OS X and Windows XP and Vista that makes producing high-quality projects easier than ever before. As part of the Studio One Artist package, you get 20 new PreSonus Native Effects plug-ins and virtual instruments and a generous bundle of third-party loops, software, and instrument sounds.

Compare Studio One Artist and bundled extras to what comes with competing mobile interfaces: